College Sports Blog

Cowlishaw: Remembering my encounters with Darrell Royal, a true champion of his era

I was 21 and working for The Daily Texan, the student newspaper. Darrell Royal was 52 but what seemed at the time like a much older 52. He was in his final season at the University of Texas. The Wishbone offense was dying and he had had enough of battling a certain element that was taking over college coaching.

To paraphrase the late Joe Paterno, Darrell Royal was going to leave college football to the Barry Switzers of the world.

The announcement of Royal’s death Wednesday morning was surprising, but I guess we should feel blessed that he was around for 36 more years after walking away from the game and the program he built into a national powerhouse in Austin.

I was not assigned to do an extensive interview with him that day back in ’76. Royal had agreed (through Bill Little of the sports information department I am sure) to be the guest selector in our weekly football prediction box which, frankly, was the main reason I was working at the Texan.

I don’t remember much about our visit beyond a couple of things. One is that his desk was massive, and I felt very small and out of place and quite probably underdressed sitting across from him. The other is that, while he wasn’t friendly he was pleasant enough, but he did advise me that I ought to call ahead next time to see when he was available.

Apparently, having been told that Royal had agreed to do the picks, I just walked over to his office in Belmont Hall after class one day and expected him to hand them to me.

Given the changes in how the media is allowed access to college sports today, I can only imagine the student reporter at Alabama who approaches the secretary’s desk and shows up unannounced to speak with Nick Saban.

An interview later in life went much better. Royal and Arkansas’ Frank Broyles met with three of us at the Dallas Morning News offices in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of The Big Shootout. It’s still the game I think of when I am asked about the biggest sporting events of my life – not something I covered but the battle of unbeaten Texas and Arkansas teams at the conclusion of the 1969 season when I was 14 years old.

We watched highlights and discussed aspects of the game. Even though I knew the basic elements of Texas’ rally from two touchdowns down to win 15-14, I was shocked to see just how thoroughly Arkansas had dominated that game, how the Razorbacks’ lead should have been even greater and probably insurmountable by the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t shocking to Royal. He had lived it and survived it and been thrilled to accept the post-game congratulations from President Nixon.

That game wasn’t the end for Royal by any means – the Longhorns would beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl for the national title but would falter when presented the same opportunity a year later – but it was the pinnacle for sure.

Texas may lead the college football world in collecting money these days, but the Longhorns were all about collecting AP national championship trophies in 1963 and 1969 under Royal.

A man who famously said that three things can happen when you throw the football and two of them are bad was by all means a man of another era. But he was a true champion in that era, and while, unlike most, he did not overstay his welcome on the field, he created memories for his family, his friends and Texas fans that will last far beyond one lifetime.